A third of Ohio State's schedule will play for conference titles this weekend.
All three of Ohio State's 2019 non-conference opponents – Florida Atlantic, Cincinnati and Miami – are playing for conference championships this weekend.
If you include Wisconsin in that group, who will play the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game, then Ohio State has four regular-season opponents playing on championship weekend.
Following its season-opening loss to Ohio State, Florida Atlantic lost its second game in blowout fashion to UCF, but finished the season strong, winning nine of its last ten games to clinch a spot in Saturday's Conference USA Championship Game against UAB, where Lane Kiffin's Owls are 8-point favorites over the Blazers.
Cincinnati was able to rebound from its lopsided shutout loss to Ohio State early in the season. Following the 42-0 loss, the Bearcats won their next nine games and has been ranked in the top-20 of the College Football Playoff rankings ever since.
The Bearcats suffered their second loss of the season against No. 17 last week, but have a rematch this week in the AAC Championship Game with a potential New Year's Six bid on the line, and this time the Bearcats will likely have starting quarterback Desmond Ridder back in the lineup.
Miami suffered the most lopsided loss to the Buckeyes of any team this season, falling 76-5 to Ohio State early in the season, but the Redhawks were able to bounce back as well, winning six of their next eight games to clinch a spot in Saturday's MAC Championship Game against Central Michigan, where Miami is an eight-point underdog.
Wisconsin's loss to the Buckeyes came later in the season than the three non-conference opponents, but the Badgers were able to turn their season around as well to clinch the Big Ten West Championship. After the loss to Ohio State, its second-straight, Wisconsin finished its season strong with four-straight wins including two wins against ranked opponents – Iowa and Minnesota.
